Who Really Designed The AK-47? Was Kalasnakova simply a Russian symbol not a invertor

"This article will cause controversy and upset a few people, so if you believe that Mikhail Kalashnikov is on the same level as John Browning when it comes to firearms design, you may want to stop reading now - See more at: Who Really Designed The AK-47? - The Firearm Blog

That said, I do not believe that Mikhail Kalashnikov was as involved in the development of the AK-47 as the Soviets led the world to believe. So who was? Well, there can only be one answer: Hugo Schmeisser. Schmeisser is perhaps most famous for the MP18 (the world’s first submachine gun) and the MP43/44 “Sturmgewehr” (the world’s first assault rifle). Obviously the latter firearm is more pertinent to this article. - See more at: Who Really Designed The AK-47? - The Firearm Blog

"Ok, so the facts can make even the most stubborn AK fan raise an eyebrow. Also, If you’re familiar with how the USSR did things, then it all makes sense that Kalashnikov would make a great poster child for designing this symbol of national pride. They put this “common soldier” with a humble, agrarian background on a pedestal as an example of how great and excellent communism was. If the above facts are taken in to account, he may for all we know have been Schmeisser’s errand boy. He never spoke like a humble engineer deserved of respect in interviews, and even lied about Schmeisser being involved in the project at all for many decades - See more at: Who Really Designed The AK-47? - The Firearm Blog

Actually, John C. Garand designed the AK. Look at the FCG, same basic operating principle just layed out differently and simplified. Gas system? Turn the Garand upside down, relocate the port as was done with the M14 and what do ya get? Convert the op rod on a Garand into a bolt carrier, what do ya get? At the time, the Garand was the auto rifle to beat, why not adapt it to your needs? Of course the general layout/profile resembled the German STg43/44, most of the "assault rifles" that came after do too.

i think a lot of books have been written by people looking for a good headline and they don't bother to do the research.

the russians claim to have the first assault rifle and it was built and used in WW1 before the communist revolution-- that was way before the mp43/44 came along in WW2--

personally i think old klash got some ideas from some captured M1 garands -- sort of straight out the dog-legs in the action, then flip it upwards-- and came up with a m1 rifle like action only a bit less "fancy" and a bit more "klunky" and it held a lot more rounds in a removable mag.

i don't think the russians get the credit they deserve anyway--

for a long time in the west the mig-29 was considered to be a rip-off of the FA-18 hornet. after some were inspected by experts in the US it was found that they shared only the general lay out-- and even the general lay out of the mig-29 had another plan for the engine placement -- bigger longer engines that looked like turbo-jets and so on-- nothing in common other than they had two engines and two tails--and a redundant FBW system.

Even if it makes a good story, I don't care. As long as my WASR 10 with its straight sights shoots where I point it every time I pull the trigger I don't care who gets credit. Although, if I were the Russians, I wouldn't want to take credit for that mickey mouse hammer spring setup.

Did MTK look at other existing designs? He would have been a fool not to.

Did he receive help on the detail work? Of course.

Did manufacturing engineers twiddle every single aspect of the design to optimize it for production? You can bet your life on it.

That doesn't mean it wasn't Kalashnikov's design. And, while the Soviets were good about giving designers credit, Soviet designers assumed all the responsibility, too. Eugene Stoner would have lost some money. Mikhail Timofeyovich Kalashnikov was looking at a six to nine month life expectancy in a gulag if he failed. The Soviet Union made good use of failures; they made examples of them to encourage others not to do the same.

The final product was an almost compleatly different weapon than the one he first submited. He came out ahead of his competetors in each phase of testing but was told to make changes each time. He even took ideas from his competitors designs at the urging of his superiors. Did credit go where it was deserved? Probably not. O well...